Saving Max by Antoinette Van Heugten

Danielle Parkman has her hands full.  Between being an attorney and worrying and caring for her teenage son Max who has high functioning autism, as a single mom she is working both day and night.  Then Max starts to lash out and not responding the way he used to.  There is suspected drug use and as Max starts to become violent Danielle seeks professional help for him and he goes to a psychiatric facility.

When Danielle discovers Max unconscious at the facility and bloody next to Jonas, a boy he had befriended on his same floor, who has been stabbed to death, Danielle herself is arrested as an accessory to the crime.  In a whirlwind of events, Danielle works hard to prove her sons innocence, not knowing herself if he is, or if she just can not accept her son as a killer.

With the justice system bearing down on her, the true question becomes how far will a mother go to protect her son?

I have read and enjoyed several books around the topic of Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism that I have never heard of until a little over a year ago and now it seems like I am hearing and reading about it everywhere.   When I first read what this book was about I felt it sounded much like the plot for Jodi Piccoult’s recent book. House Rules, and in a small way it is.

I liked the pace of this book and while I have a couple other reads going right now I found I had to set them down in order to be supportive of Max as his mother Danielle works hard to prove her sons innocence, all the while I was holding my breath and wondering if he was innocent.

This is Antoinette’s first book and I found it to be a well written thriller.  While the book is about Max, the real character is Asperger’s and you get that through Max’s actions, not so much his words.  I found that to be an interesting part of the book and found myself longing to know what would happen next but unwilling to turn the page until I had fully read every word.

Amazon Rating (TBA) – This book will be available in book stores in late September

Book Journey has updated the 2010 reading Map to include Saving Max

Cover Story:  This is not the cover that is on my advanced copy but I like it much better than the one I have (which is pictured on my morning post prior to this post).  The cover here makes you want to know this boy and what is happening inside him.

I received my review copy from:  Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists